NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!

GO GAMECOCKS!!!!

Grad School Possibility

So I've been looking into some grad schools (don't ask...it might just be a phase, we'll see). Anyway, as I'm looking at some online programs, I came across Drexel University's online graduate programs. They have quite a few, but one in particular caught my eye:

Master of Science in Professional Studies: Creativity Studies Concentration

This is from the description page:

"Who Should Choose the M.S. in Professional Studies: Creativity Studies Concentration?

Individuals from any industry, with a bachelor’s degree in any field, who want to enhance their personal creativity skills and infuse creativity throughout their organizations will benefit from this program."

I think this fits me perfectly. I work in any industry. I have a bachelor's degree in any field. I would LOVE to enhance and infuse my creativity.

Just a heads up, should I complete this program, I will expect all of you to refer to me as 'Master of Creativity.'

Flying

So as I said in the last post, I'm traveling. I had 2 flights today. Airplanes remind me of one of my favorite youtube clips ever:

I Tried, Dave Ramsey, I Tried

This week began what feels like 4 weeks straight of travel. Really, there are a few breaks, but not many. Travel is never easy on the budget, but the fact that I have 5 different trips in 4 weeks makes it even harder. Combine that with the fact that my June budget is already shot (June/July is like the perfect storm of weddings, showers, travel, etc.), and you can see why I’d try to cut corners wherever I could.

I have a conference this week in Philadelphia. My cousin has to be there for work, so they are paying for her hotel room…so they are paying for my hotel room. Score. But I still had flights, the conference fee, and food to pay for. I decided I’d bring breakfast with me to save money there, so I bought the breakfast of champions – granola bars and peanut butter. I figured it got me through the village in China; it’ll get me through this week.

I get to the airport and go through security, which is always fun. Oh, and I also decided not to check my luggage. I’ll mooch off of my cousin and buy a razor there. I’m not paying $50 to bring my face moisturizer and razor. The end. So they rescan my suitcase, which typically happens because I shove it full of crap and they can’t tell what the heck is in there.

Well then they decide they need to open it. Sure, whatever, take a better look. So the lady starts looking through it and pulls out my peanut butter…my unopened peanut butter. She tells me that it is not allowed.

“Oh,” I said, “I didn’t realize peanut butter was a liquid.” (I was totally respectful, I promise.)

She replied with something like, “Yeah, it’s liquids, creams, pastes, etc.”

In my head, I’m thinking, “It’s peanut butter. It’s peanuts, salt, and oil. It’s not even hydrogenated – all natural. What am I going to do, get on the plane and make some sort of peanut butter napalm?” But I refrained from saying that.

Instead, I gave a simple explanation, “Oh, I didn’t know that. I was just trying to save money on breakfast.”

Then, as serious as she could possibly be, she replied, “Well, if you want you can go back out and eat as much of it as you can now. I’m sure you could find a knife or spoon at a restaurant.”

Yes, that is exactly what I want to do. Shove my face full of peanut butter and then get on a plane.

And that would really help serve the purpose of saving money on meals…because I’d probably not want to eat for at least a couple days, with all the puking I’d be doing.

“No,” I replied, “That’s ok. You can have it.”

Perfect Timing

I read these 2 posts today on Stuff Christians Like:

Refusing the Gift of the Desert Road

Pretending the Steering Wheel is Enough

The timing was perfect. As I think about all of the things I want or want to do or feel God has called me to in life, I want them all to happen immediately. Not only that, but I feel like I am ready for all of them...even all at once.

But that's just not true. It doesn't mean that my desires are wrong or sinful. It doesn't mean that they are not from God. It doesn't mean that they won't happen at all (that is a possibility, but not a definite).

It does mean, though, that God knows me better than I know myself. His timing is perfect. The truth is that God's blessings are blessings not just because of what they are, but also because of when they happen.

Right now, my words are saying "Your will, not mine, God," while my heart is longing for my will. I pray that He will make my heart match my words.

Perspective

I played in a slowpitch softball game last night. It’s a coed church league that plays once a week. We played, well, not so well. I played, well, not so well. We lost. It didn’t help that we were playing a really good team. The game could still have been fun. It wasn’t.

It wasn’t fun because all but maybe 2 of the people on the other team were complete jerks (I had another word in my head, but this is a public site, so…). They were taking extra bases whenever possible, even once they were up like 18-4. They were arrogant in speech and action. They argued with the umpires over every little call (even balls and strikes in the last inning).

I am choosing not to get into how mean and awful the umps were…but they definitely were.

As I was standing at shortstop, watching grown men act like 12 year old, arrogant brats, all I could do was laugh. I mean, really, this is a just a novice slowpitch game. Can we all just breathe in a deep breath of perspective?

Perspective. We all need perspective.

How’s this for perspective? On Wednesday, Armando Galarraga threw a perfect game (the first perfect game in Detroit Tigers history, I think), only it wasn’t recorded as a perfect game. Why? The first base umpire, Jim Joyce, missed a call – what should have been the 27^th and final out of the game. It really wasn’t a debatable call. He just missed it. And he admitted it after the game.

And how did Galarraga respond? He handled the situation as well as it could have been handled, in my opinion. He finished the game, didn’t flip out about how he was robbed of making history, and even accepted Joyce’s apology.

It would have been a cool thing to witness his perfect game, but I think anyone who was paying attention got so much more than any perfect game could bring. As one article puts it, “Our reward comes in seeing someone perform at the highest level and then having enough presence of mind to maintain a proper perspective…”

Maybe Galarraga’s story didn’t impact you like it did me. Maybe you wouldn’t have had the same reaction at my softball game the other night. I have spent a good amount of time reflecting on these events, and here’s why – 8 years ago my reaction would have been completely different. It may have even been different 5 years ago.

If you had described me as “intense” in high school, that would have been putting it lightly, especially with regards to softball. I found out after I graduated that all of the JV girls were terrified of me and my temper. They were scared to talk to me during games. Seriously.

It is only by God’s grace that my reaction today to the same circumstances is different. I still struggle with my temper, with expectations (especially of myself), with disappointment, and with failure. But God has given me the gift of perspective.

My life is not about me, so when something in “my world” seemingly comes crashing down, it doesn’t mean the world is crashing down. My life is not about making me successful, well-known, respected, or envied. It is about Christ and making Him known. My selfish heart continually turns inward to focus on me, and me alone, but God graciously lifts my face to Him.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. – Philippians 3.7

We could all use a dose of perspective, don’t you think?

Memories from My Grandfather

The local paper back home, in VA, did an interview with my grandfather and his memories of WWII. You can read it here.

Fred isn't my actual grandfather. He married my grandmother when I was about 11. But he's been my grandfather ever since then. He's a really interesting guy with so many stories and memories. Sometimes we hear them a few too many times, but they're never dull, that's for sure. One of my favorites (and I'm sure I won't do the story justice) is how he once lived in an apartment that was just 1 room - the bathroom didn't have any walls. So when someone had to go to the bathroom, everyone else had to leave the apartment. I'm sure Carlyn could come up with some more good ones. She really likes his favorite story from his principal days.

He also loves mind/thinking games. He has lots of little puzzles and games around the house and loves to teach or trick people with them. When I was probably 13 or 14 he taught me how to do cube roots of any number in my head. He asked me like a year ago if I could still do it, and I had to report that, unfortunately I hadn't kept that skill up (I blame all of the Chinese I had to learn).

I have a really interesting family. Maybe I should do little bios of them on here. It'd be entertaining. For now, though, we'll just leave this post about Fred.

Free Audio Book

Go here to download a free audio copy of Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan. I haven't read it (or listened to it), yet, but Crazy Love was good and I like Francis Chan...and it's free!

Just follow the instructions, add to your cart, and use the promo code JUN2010. The offer is good all month.

You're welcome.